Angry Muslim worshipers expel senior Fatah official from Temple Mount

Fatah representatives accuse Hamas supporters of being behind the expulsion of Azzam Ahmed.

Azzam Ahmed 370.
(photo credit:REUTERS/Suhaib Salem)

Angry Muslim worshipers on Tuesday expelled a senior Fatah official from the
Temple Mount compound.

The official, Azzam Ahmed, was accompanying a
Jordanian delegation on a tour of the compound when worshipers began hurling
abuse at him.

Eyewitnesses said that the worshipers called on Ahmed to
leave the area after accusing him of failing to coordinate his visit with the
Fatah leadership in east Jerusalem.

A Fatah activist in the city told The
Jerusalem Post that Ahmed and the Jordanian delegation notified only the Israeli
authorities of their intention to visit the site.

“Had he told us that he
was coming, we would have provided him with security and prevented the
embarrassing incident,” the activist said. He and other Fatah representatives
accused Hamas supporters of being behind the expulsion of Ahmed.

Another
eyewitness said that the protesters surrounded the Fatah and Jordanian officials
and began chanting slogans against the Palestinian Authority leadership and the
Egyptian army.

In a video posted on the Internet, the protesters are
heard shouting at Ahmed, “Get out of here!” and “Don’t throw shoes at him
because he doesn’t even deserve them.”